TOYOTA May Delay The Launch of a New Production Line at Its Plant in Tianjin

TOYOTA Motor Corp may delay the launch of a new production line at its plant in Tianjin because a decline in its Chinese sales is likely to continue for the foreseeable future, Japan's Asahi newspaper reported yesterday.

Toyota had hoped to complete its new fourth line at the plant, with annual capacity of 200,000 vehicles, around December 2014. The Asahi report, which did not cite any sources, said recovery of Toyota's sales in China would determine a new schedule for the line.

The company is also considering a similar delay for the launch of a third output line, with capacity of about 200,000 units, at its plant in Guangzhou. That launch is set for 2015.

Toyota's China sales have been hit by a territorial dispute in the East China Sea.

Protests and calls for boycotts of Japanese products broke out across China in September after the Japanese government "purchased" from a so-called private owner two of the Diaoyu Islands.